Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 4.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,825,264 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 75,818 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.79% of AMETEK worth $314,201,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new position in AMETEK during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of AMETEK in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of AMETEK during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of AMETEK by 201.0% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 295 shares of the technology company's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC raised its holdings in AMETEK by 15,950.0% in the fourth quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 321 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.43% of the company's stock.

AMETEK Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE AME opened at $184.19 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $176.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $177.10. The stock has a market cap of $42.53 billion, a PE ratio of 30.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. AMETEK, Inc. has a 52-week low of $145.02 and a 52-week high of $198.33.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.74 billion. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.75% and a net margin of 20.43%. The company's revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.64 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

AMETEK Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. AMETEK's payout ratio is 20.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AME has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $197.00 to $190.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Mizuho set a $212.00 target price on AMETEK in a report on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen raised AMETEK from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on AMETEK from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on AMETEK from $194.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AMETEK has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $197.89.

About AMETEK

AMETEK, Inc manufactures and sells electronic instruments and electromechanical devices in the North America, Europe, Asia, and South America, and internationally. The company's EIG segment offers advanced instruments for the process, aerospace, power, and industrial markets; process and analytical instruments for the oil and gas, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, semiconductor, automation, and food and beverage industries; instruments to the laboratory equipment, ultra-precision manufacturing, medical, and test and measurement markets; power quality monitoring and c devices, uninterruptible power supplies, programmable power and electromagnetic compatibility test equipment, and sensors for gas turbines and dashboard instruments; heavy trucks, instrumentation, and controls for the food and beverage industries; and aircraft and engine sensors, power supplies, embedded computing, monitoring, fuel and fluid measurement, and data acquisition systems for aerospace and defense industry.

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